Posted on 01/15/2016 1:35:33 PM PST by conservativejoy
It doesn't get media coverage, but the homeschooling community has a passionate and committed lobby, which has thrown its support behind Ted Cruz.
Republican presidential candidate and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz announced Monday the launch of the Homeschoolers for Cruz coalition, an alliance of over 6,000 members of America's homeschool community and prominent homeschooling lobbyists who have united to endorse him for president.
Common Core is perceived as the enemy of homeschooling, which in other countries like Germany (for instance), has been criminalized. Especially among evangelicals, homeschooling is a major issue. Elections have consequences, and if Hillary wins, the "it takes a village crowd" will feel empowered to shut down all but the government-approved curricula.
Hillary said in reply to a question from an Iowa high school teacher last summer, "How did we end up at a point where we are so negative about the most important non-family enterprise in the raising of the next generation which is how our kids are educated?"
The operative words here are 'non-family. Who gets to decide how our kids are educated? The federal government, or parents? Cruz's stance against Common Core resonates with homeschoolers.
"Some of the left want to shut down those who don't abide by the Common Core agenda," Cruz stated. "Mark my words, that is not going to happen. If I am elected president, I will direct the U.S. Department of Education, which should be abolished, I will direct the Department of Education that Common Core ends today."
Iowa evangelicals such as Marlin Bontrager, who homeschooled his 10 children on his farm, are sure to swarm to the caucuses.
"My family and I are so grateful that the Lord has given us a godly man like Ted Cruz to run for president," Bontrager said in the press release. "As a homeschooling father of 10 and the leader in my home, it is vitally important to me that we have a president who is concerned first and foremost about religious liberty and protecting the Constitution. Within that is included the rights that we need to have as parents to be able to choose what education we desire for our children. I believe that Ted Cruz has and will continue to fight for these rights and that is why I endorse him for president."
This is one of the payoffs of having a well-established ground game: how many other groups like Homeschoolers for Cruz are out there, ready to bring their candidate's message to the polls? While Trump fills arenas, Cruz quietly loads his best ammunition in the churches and homes of Iowa.
This is impossible.
Cruz doesn’t have New York values.
Thank God for that.
In before Trumpers make fun of Cruz for getting more conservative Christian endorsements.
There are no homeschoolers in NYC! Not really a place for young children, just immature adults.
Let’s hope this makes a difference. We don’t need a Democrat like Trump winning any primaries, at least not in the Republican party!
A bunch of imbeciles elected Bush and got an education in the folly of their choice. Then another bunch of imbeciles elected Obama and have been learning the folly of their choice. At this rate another bunch of imbeciles is going to elect Trump and likewise learn it was a really stupid idea. My one great political hope in this life is that the American public eventually gets educated enough to stop creating a mess in Washington. (Yes, for all the whining outside Washington, it’s the electorate that has created the mess and is responsible for it.)
Sorry if I’ve pissed everyone off. But I’ve been in a permanent pissed off mode myself since reaching adulthood just after Reagan. The big-government police state mentality of the Republicrats (exemplified by the likes of Trump and all the Bushes as much as Clinton and Obama) must be disestablished to restore liberty and prosperity.
In Texas, I was an associate school psychologist/school counselor years ago during the time home schooling was becoming more popular. The school system did not know how to deal with these students if the parents put them back in regular school.
Should the school put them in the grade of their age group? What if they could not perform at that age grade level? How would they know the learning level of the student?
These students were given to me to test to determine the appropriate grade level for them. I never had to recommend any of these students be placed in a grade lower than their age group.
Homeshoolers supporting Cruz was a mostly a foregone conclusion when homechooler champion Steve Deace endorsed Cruz instead of Jindal, Santorum, Huckabee or Carson.
I don’t mean homeschoolers were waiting for Deace’ endorsement, I mean Deace knows how homeschoolers were leaning.
Our homeschooled daughter was “evaluated” by the school officials when she wanted to attend the local public school. They wanted to place her two grade levels above her age peers. We declined and allowed her to be place one grade above.
As it turned out, she later had some issues involving the evil weed and those who habitually smoke it. She had to be yanked out of public school and returned to home and homeschool. Later, she wanted to graduate with her public school friends, but the public school said she was one credit hour short of graduation. We appealed to the school board, but they said their hands were tied and besides, they did not have anyone who was qualified to evaluate her homeschool portfolio. She had taken college chemistry, Latin and was being tutored in Spanish by a college student from Spain.
Since she had already had been accepted at a local university, we decided that she did not really need a high school diploma. Several years later, after she received her Masters, she came to live at home for a while and look for work. Since she had a graduate degree, she was legally qualified to work as a substitute teacher. I urged her to apply at the high school that had declined to allow her to graduate, but she didn’t want to go through the lengthy application processes.
Thanks for your post. Sorry your daughter had a brush with marijuana, but she turned out well. Good for her and you.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.